PHOTO: Bildbyrån
Erik Karlsson delivered a super season in the NHL.
But still totally blown away by the Swedish Sports Gala.
“Close the sports gala,” says a very annoyed Tommy Söderström on Twitter.
There were many who raised their eyebrows when the Sports Gala released all the nominees on Monday. Because there were a lot of given names that were completely missing from the nomination groups.
Karlsson nodded
Cross-country skiing didn’t even get any of it Jonna Sundling, Frida Karlsson or Ebba Andersson in the category “Female Athlete of the Year”. But even more remarkable is that the Swedish NHL star Erik Karlsson was not even nominated in the “Male Athlete of the Year” category.
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Karlsson offered a powerful record season in North America. He won the prestigious “Norris Trophy” as the world’s best hockey defender in the NHL and became the first defender in 30 years to reach the dream limit of 100 points.
Söderström’s anger
The big star was also awarded the prestigious Victoria prize this summer. But it was not enough at all to be noticed at the Sports Gala and it has aroused strong reactions in Swedish hockey.
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Former Tre Kronor goalkeeper Tommy Söderstrom is really annoyed and criticizes the controversial decision.
“Close the Sports Gala, not because I don’t check, but neither Erik Karlsson nor Ebba Andersson nominated in any category. I wonder who sits on the nomination jury,” he writes on X (formerly Twitter) and continues:
“Linus Ullmark also who won the Vezina Trophy (best goaltender in the NHL) but definitely Karlsson who scored 100p and it was 30 years ago that a defender did it… But in general hockey has rarely been represented”.
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“Hole in the head”
Söderström also gets a lot of support from other hockey fans on social media.
“It is well known that the Sports Gala rarely paid tribute to hockey players individually. It seems to me that Lidas was nominated at some point (maybe he won?) and then he might be ranked as a top three defenseman of all time in the NHL, writes the former SHL player Anton Axelsson on X.
Additional voices join the wave of criticism against the Sports Gala. Where a user goes so far as to call the decision “disgusting”.
“Strange – both (Erik Karlsson and Ebba Andersson) are world class in their respective sports. In that case, no other hockey player or skier can be nominated either? Anything else would be a total hole in the head, writes one in response to Söderström.
“It’s great that we have so many talented sportsmen and women. But when a Swedish defender scores over 100 points in the world’s best hockey league, he should be among the nominees for the Sports Gala,” writes another on X.
“Neither the goalie of the year in the NHL nor the defender of the year in the NHL is nominated for male athlete of the year at the Sports Gala. Instead, you can vote for Henrik Von Eckerman, for a gold in team-em in horse jumping. A team containing three other men, who did not make the cut for the Team of the Year category,” writes a third.
What do you think of the Sports Gala’s choice? Share the article and have your say!
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